German Mb Quart Speakers Talk A Proper World Dialect

June 03, 1988|By Rich Warren.

A name like MB Quart invites writers to pun their way through an article. Luckily MB Quart`s model MB 280 loudspeaker is so good, no puns are necessary. The name really doesn`t mean anything, even in its native German. MB Quart will mean much more to you once you hear its speakers.

MB Quart may be a new name for Americans, but it has been manufacturing speakers in Europe for many years. The company`s specialty is manufacturing the drivers-the individual woofers, tweeters, etc.-that other well-known European speaker companies use to assemble their speaker systems.

Many Americans maintain a long-standing prejudice against German loudspeakers. I always thought they had all the sonority of a Volkswagen auto horn. European speakers in general have tended to be overly bright and hard-sounding.

Today`s international culture breaks down boundaries. Although many speakers still speak with the accent of their homeland, others like MB Quart have learned the proper world dialect.

The MB 280 contains an 8-inch woofer and a 1-inch titanium dome tweeter. It requires a minimum of 20 watts per channel and gracefully handles a maximum of 80 watts. MB shies away from the exotic, except for the high-tech titanium dome tweeter, which requires sophisticated technology to manufacture. Many speaker designers agree that the use of titanium reduces distortion in tweeters.

MB Quart honestly calls this a bookshelf speaker. It isn`t so tiny that it will get lost among the paperbacks, and it isn`t so large that your bookshelf will sag. The MB 280 measures 10.5 by 17.4 by 10.4 inches and weighs 22 pounds. Of course, for best sound you`ll probably want to place the speakers on a table or on floor stands.

These speakers treat the listener to an unusually neutral sound, with broad, flat frequency response. Voices, for example, are neither projected far forward nor muffled within the enclosure. The sound is very ``tight.`` A piano sounds especially wonderful, with impressive solidity. No instrument of the orchestra dominates, unless that`s what was intended by the conductor or producer. The MB 280 rocks well, too. Rated down to 50 hertz, a pair of the speakers manages to reproduce a surprising amount of bass for their size. They won`t play at ear-shattering volumes.

Stereo imaging, the re-creation of natural instrumental and vocal placement, has depth as well as breadth. It`s not an airy sort of image. Once again, everything sounds very solidly placed.

This solid aspect extends to the enclosure. MB Quart manufactures its own cabinets. The multilayered, specially compressed wood walls of the enclosure are almost an inch thick. This reduces cabinet resonance and vibration, resulting in many of the speakers` positive attributes. Their looks equal their sound. Thickly veneered sides of real wood join curved solid wood corners and edges. A black grille matches a matte black top. Quart explains that the corners and edges are solid wood because that`s the area that usually gets the nicks and scratches; solid wood can be refinished much easier than veneer. The standard wood finishes are walnut or oak, or you can choose white or black lacquer. Optional extra-cost finishes include rosewood, mahogany, pine and cherry.

The MB 280 stands amid a rather substantial line of loudspeakers. The company also manufactures car speakers and headphones. Even with the unfavorable exchange rate between the dollar and the deutsche mark, the sound of the MB 280 justifies its $549 price. While certainly no bargain, it is honest sound for the money.

MB Quart is assembling a network of dealers. Thus far, only one dealer in the Chicago area, Mills Recording on Michigan Avenue, stocks Quart speakers. Although we normally don`t like to recommend speakers carried by only one dealer because of the lack of price competition, we thought Quart deserved a good start. After all, there are more than 350 speaker companies in the world, so it`s easy to get lost in the crowd. Besides, when the speaker`s as good as the MB 280, it saves the writer the effort of thinking up bad puns.

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The Consumer Electronics Show rolls into town Friday, with its official opening at McCormick Place, McCormick North and the McCormick Center Hotel Saturday morning. It remains one of the largest trade shows in Chicago, and in North America.

The Electronic Industries Association does a remarkably good job of organizing and staging the show. The association strongly discourages attendance by those who aren`t members of the industry, because the show`s four-day attendance usually reaches 100,000. Strangely, however, anyone with a valid business card who is willing to brave the crowds and pay $25 to register can manage to attend.